Climate Grief: The Signs, Symptoms & Strategy To Overcome
BY MICHAELA FARNHAM
Are you being affected by Climate Grief? Because I sure as hell am.
As I sit down and write this Australia, my home, is being ravaged by some of the most catastrophic and unprecedented bushfire events to date. These fires have consumed approximately 25 million acres of land and displaced hundreds and thousands of people. Perhaps the worst of it is that over 1 billion animals are feared to be dead. On top of this, the parts of Australia that are not being burnt are underwater due to intense flash flooding events.
Image: Matthew Abbott—The New York Times/Redux (Via Time.com)
Image: Justin McManus—The Age/Fairfax Media/Getty Images (Via Time.com)
With climate change inciting such extreme weather events across the globe, and the IPCC’s recent damning climate report, it is difficult to remain positive. With dates such as 2040 being thrown around as the ‘beginning of the end’, it is hard to fathom how in only 20 years the climate could become even more extreme.
I’ve spoken to many of my friends about this and the reaction to our current climate crisis was a mixed bag really. Some showed a combination of carelessness and disbelief that 20 years is ‘all we’ve got’, whilst a majority were in real tears about this stuff, me included. I find it incredible yet unsurprising how the burden of climate change has fallen upon the shoulders of us younger generations. Some of our current world leaders and politicians do not even believe in climate change, which is frankly pretty screwed up. I think the real kicker for our generation here is that these people in power will most likely die and not be too greatly affected by the outcomes of climate change, whilst us poor young Gen Y/Zer’s are being left with the literal shit-sandwhich that the world may turn into. So it’s no bloody surprise that we are all so damn sad about it!
However, whilst I can rant and rave on about how ‘unfair’ this whole thing is for days, I do about 85% of the time remain quite positive about the planet and our environment. Granted, I may be a bit more of a ‘glass half-full’ kind of person, but there are so many ways in which I can find some light amongst all this dark.
I think about all the ‘little’ wins that are going on around the world.
For example, in 2019 the European Union voted to phase out most single-use plastics and states in Australia and Canada banned single-use plastic bags all together. Furthermore, in the past year we have seen the biggest global youth movement protesting against fossil fuels and demanding climate action, now that’s something to be proud of.
Image: Markus Spiske (Via Pexels.com)
Image: Markus Spiske (Via Pexels.com)
I think about all the amazing and inspiring women around me who are fighting for this planet.
I am not only talking about the infamous Greta Thunberg, but you, me, the Women in Ocean Science community, all of us are doing something and that is pretty amazing!
Image: Markus Spiske (Via Pexels.com)
Image: Markus Spiske (Via Pexels.com)
I celebrate what we still have left and fight for what we are losing.
By day I walk around blissfully happy for all the beautiful nature I am surrounded by, and by night I am angrily writing letters to politicians to tell them to stop mining/drilling/destroying my backyard. It’s all about balance I guess.
So I suppose what I am trying to say is that it's okay to be mad, it’s okay to be suffering from Climate Grief, it is a legitimate thing to feel. Climate change doesn’t discriminate, it affects us all, so bet if you spoke to some of your friends, they would be feeling the same. There is a lot of bad going on for our planet right now, but there is also a lot of good. So I implore you to look for the positives, be inspired by those around you and fight for what we have got left.